The Influence of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings Trilogy on modern Fantasy literature. Patrick Rothfuss’ "The Kingkiller Chronicles" as an example

Abstract or Introduction

This paper examines the traces of J.R.R. Tolkien’s work in today’s Fantasy literature. It is an indisputable fact that The Lord of the Rings (LOTR) is one of the most influential works of the 20th century and remains culturally relevant to this day. Today’s Fantasy literature and popular culture is so saturated and full of LOTR’s influence that it is difficult to imagine a culture without it. Even a person who has never read the original work or consumed any other adaptation of it will most likely recognise the names of Frodo, Gollum and Gandalf; and any modern reader of Fantasy literature and its branching genres like Science Fiction or Horror will know Tolkien’s name.

Yet it is not just the readers who were influenced by Tolkien, on the contrary, following LOTR’s wake a whole array of authors began to write their own works, featuring fantastical worlds filled with trolls, wizards, elves, dwarves and the like. Most novels on today’s Fantasy best-seller and classics lists such as George R.R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire, Terry Pratchett’s Discworld or Ursula Le Guinn’s Earthsea Chronicles, to name just a select few, share definite traces of Tolkienesque elements, and, it can be argued that even those who actively dislike Tolkien and his work and thus went on to create something decidedly different are still influenced by him, even if in a spiteful sense.

So, it is not a question of if there are traces of Tolkien’s work in today’s Fantasy literature, but rather to what extent. Thus, after explaining the chosen methodology and theoretical approach this paper will take to this subject, there will be a section dedicated to a pre-Tolkien world and the state of literature at the time, in an effort to fully understand the scope of Tolkien’s influence. Thereafter, a quick summary of both works will be given to introduce still unfamiliar readers to the subject matter that will later be analysed in detail. The next two chapters will deal with the analysis of all shared aspects and differences between the two works chosen, before lastly presenting a conclusion of all findings and offering a final verdict on the state of modern Fantasy literature.